Delve into profound questions about faith and spirituality as Dr. J. Vernon McGee addresses listeners’ curiosities from around the country. From understanding the difference between saving and plain faith to exploring the true meaning of being God’s chosen people, this episode tackles complex spiritual discussions with clarity and biblical wisdom.
To be spiritual or to have a spiritual experience are concepts that are tossed about in both religious and secular circles alike. But what does it really mean to be spiritual? Is it the way we look, what we wear, the way we act, or the ritual that we follow? What does the Bible say to us about being spiritual? Well, stay with us to discover the answers to these questions and more.
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of foundation, ye saints of the Lord, is laid for your faith in his excellent word.
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What more can he say than to
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have said to you who for refuge to Jesus have fled. Fear not, I am with thee.
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You’re listening to the question and answer program of the Through the Bible Radio Network. Our Bible teacher, Dr. J. Vernon McGee, answered the many questions of his listeners for over 30 years, and they’ve been recorded and preserved for us, those believers who want to continue to grow in their faith today. Our first question comes from a listener in West Milton, Ohio. She says, Is it wrong for a Christian to refer to God as Daddy?
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Well, may I say to you the translation that I gave of a child of God that comes to the father and he’s actually saying something quite intimate when he says to him, oh, my father, my God. And it’s a very personal, intimate relationship. And to me, it’s irreverent. Maybe someone else would not consider it irreverent. I would consider it irreverent. We are also told that Lord Jesus is our brother. I would never use that myself. If he wants to put it like that, I thank him for it, but I’m not going to, and I feel like I should not mention it. And I do not think that I should use a too intimate a term when I’m talking to God personally. because my God is holy. And I’m like Isaiah. I’m a man of unclean lips. I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips. And the closer I get to him, the more holy he becomes. And may I say, the less holy I become. And therefore, I would not want to address God except in the way of worship, at all to tell the truth, and I think this might be helpful, and that’s what I want this question and answer program to be, is to be helpful to people. I am just a little, well, it’s hard for me to say it, I feel uneasy today. when I get to a service where everybody’s singing about love. We love you, you Lord Jesus. We love you, love you, love you, love you, love you. And I look at that crowd and I wonder, as the butcher, the baker, and the candlestick maker sitting out there, I wonder how Monday morning his reaction is. He’s been so intimate with God. He’s told him how much he loves him and all that. How does that work out during the week in the shop, in the marketplace, on the sidewalk? I think we need to get our talk on Sunday a little more in line with the life that we lead during the week, my friend. And we’ve got it too far away, all these intimate songs that we’re singing. My Jesus, I love thee. It’s a beautiful song, a wonderful song. But I tell you, it’s a terrible song when a hypocrite sings it. And that’s the thing that we’re talking about now.
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Are you worried that you may not have enough faith to save you? Well, this listener in Beaver Creek, Oregon does. He says, is there a difference between saving faith and plain faith? How does one know when they have enough saving faith?
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May I say to you, it’s not the amount of faith that you have. That has nothing to do with it. A little faith will save. It is not how much faith, but who do you believe. Are you trusting the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior? And if you are genuinely trusting him, you’re saved. You say, well, I have doubts. Sure, we all have doubts. But is your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, when it comes right down to the bare bones, is your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ? It’s not the mount that you have. It’s the fact that you trust him. That’s the important thing, the fact that you trust Him. And I trust that’s where your faith is. And if it is, then you don’t have to worry at all if you’re trusting Him. And remember, He is able to save to the uttermost those who come unto God through Him. Saving is His work, not yours or mine. We just trust Him. He does the saving.
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Are you spiritual? Do you know what it means to be spiritual? Well, having considered these very questions, this listener says, would you please explain what spirituality is, comparing the common concept to what is scriptural?
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Now, they’ve broken their question down into two different parts. The common concept of spirituality and then the scriptural concept as in Galatians 6.1, he that is spiritual restores such a one. Now, what is spirituality? Now, spirituality is not a pose that you assume. It is not the fact that you wear a certain garb or that you do not use makeup, or that you in some way are fasting or going through some kind of a ritual. May I say all of that has nothing in the world to do with spirituality. Spirituality is not that at all. Now, I’d like to turn to the Scripture and read what the Scripture has to say. And I’m going to 1 Corinthians, The second chapter, again, I have to use quite a bit of Scripture, and I also have to take a little bit more time, but these are important things today. Paul says in verse 9 of 1 Corinthians, the second chapter, verse 9, But as it is written, I hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. Now, Paul says that the way that you and I get most of the knowledge that we have today either comes through the eye gate, what we’ve seen and what we’ve heard. The eye gate and the ear gate is the two receptacles of knowledge. Now there are others, of course. And he mentions that are entered into the heart of man. That’s his imagination, his will. and all that that is a psychological part of man. And therefore, this knowledge that he’s talking about cannot come through the eye gate, the ear gate, nor can it come through psychology. It can’t come to you those routes. And by the way, that ought to be the answer today to these people who say they’ve had a vision or they’ve seen something or they’ve heard a voice. Don’t let anybody kid you because they haven’t. God’s not speaking that way today at all. If you heard a voice and it was a supernatural voice, it was the devil, wasn’t God. God doesn’t speak out today. And if you saw something, you didn’t see God. You didn’t see Jesus because of the fact that’s not the way he speaks to you today. Will you listen to what’s written here? I have not seen, ear heard, neither have entered in the heart of man the things which God has prepared for them that love him. Well, how in the world are you going to find out about these things? But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit, for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. Now, every child of God is indwelt by the Spirit of God, and the Spirit of God is the teacher today. That’s not emphasized enough. If you are filled with the Spirit of God, that means you’re not going to jump up and start jabbering in a public meeting. That doesn’t mean that you’re going to act like some weirdo at all. God today reveals these things by His Spirit. How? Let me read on. For what man knoweth the things of man save the Spirit of man which is in him? Even so, the things of God knoweth no man but the Spirit of God. In other words, I used to say when I was in college, in seminary, that anything any man wrote, I could understand it. I found out later that I was wrong. A great deal had been written I don’t understand. But my argument was that anything a man does, not a man can understand it. And that generally is true, but it’s not always true. Now will you notice, he says here, now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God, that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Now that means the knowledge of the word of God. You see, the root trouble today is ignorance of the word of God. And you’d never be spiritual without knowing the Word of God. And he says, “…which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth, and comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God.” Now that’s the reason that radio programs become popular. I worry about the fact that through the Bible radio is as popular as it is because it’s not supposed to be. The natural man cannot receive the things of the Spirit of God. It’s impossible. They are foolishness unto him, neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned. Now, the things man does, not a man can understand it, but only the Spirit of God can reveal the things of God, and the only place He reveals it is not in dreams or having the heebie-jeebies, but rather in the study of His Word. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things. That is, he understands. Yet he himself is judged of no man. For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ. And I, brethren, now he’s talking to the Corinthians, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. Now, there are a lot of Christians today, they’re saved, they’ve accepted Christ. but they’re ignorant. Pardon me for saying that, but they’re ignorant. They don’t know anything. They absolutely, the Spirit of God hasn’t taught them a thing. Some of them are big mouth, and some of them are doing a lot of talking, but actually, they don’t know the Word of God because the only place in the world that God’s speaking today in His Word, and that Word, the Holy Spirit gave it, and the Holy Spirit would just like freely to give it to you if you just take time to let God speak to you in his word. A lot of people talk about they like to meditate. Well, I want to say to you that meditation may be good. However, when I meditate, I generally end up thinking about something worldly, but I guess some people don’t. And so Paul says, I had to give you milk, and I never could give you really the Word of God. And that’s the reason today that psychological preaching is popular and experienced. People love to hear about experiences and stories today. but they don’t want to hear about the Word of God. You see, that’s the problem. Spirituality is letting the Holy Spirit of God speak to you and teach you what the Word of God says. It’s a love and a thirst for the Word of God. Now, the common concept today is that you just act in a pious manner and use a certain vocabulary. That’s no good. That’s not worth anything at all. The important thing is the reality of having the Spirit of God speak to you out of His Word. I trust, friends, if I don’t get anything else over today, that I get that over. Paul says, if a man’s overtaken in a fault, ye that are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness. How many church boards… are prepared to judge sin in their church. They’re not even prepared to judge it because they don’t know the Word of God, and yet they will sit in judgment on others. You don’t try to beat a person over the head when he’s done wrong. You want to restore him. The whole purpose is to restore him. You see, when the prodigal son came home, he was a son. But he was what would be called a babe. He was unspiritual. He was out of fellowship with his father, and he didn’t know him very well. But I tell you, his dad knew him, and he received him. We have a heavenly father. that will receive those that, you know, go astray, if they’ll come back. The father didn’t go to the far country after him, but when the boy started home, the father was there to meet him. May I say to you, this is spirituality. I get so tired of this phony stuff that is around. It’s nothing in the world but plastic and cellophane. We need to have reality today. You’ll never get it except through the Word of God. Now, I’m sorry to take so long as I have taken with these questions that we’ve had, but there’s no other way of doing it except just that. And if you’d like to pursue this Father, turn on over in 1 Corinthians 12, 13, and 14. and you will find out more about the fact that God has given a gift to every believer. And gifts are not speaking in tongues, but the gift today is actually just a gift of helps if you help somebody. I’m amazed that more Christians in Southern California did not help these people that were on the street. I see some of these pious people that haven’t missed going to a big fundamental church in years drive right by them and not pay a bit of attention to them. I don’t see how they do it. I’ll be honest with you. I wish that we had more reality and more spirituality. I’ve opened maybe just the corner of the box to let you look in.
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As Dr. McGee has pointed out, spirituality is knowing and understanding the Word of God and then making it a reality in your life. One way to know and understand God’s Word is to get Dr. McGee’s five-volume hardback set of edited messages from his Through the Bible radio program. Or if you prefer, it also comes in a 60-volume paperback set. I’ll provide you with more information for ordering either of these items at the close of this broadcast. Now, this listener has a simple but important question. She says, What is the age of accountability?
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And I personally think it’s older than we think that it is. In the scripture, you find out in the book of Numbers, there’s three figures, 18 and 21 and 30. I think accountability is much older than you and I. think that it is. I do not think that a child that is 11 years old taking dope today is accountable. Somebody else is accountable and responsible for that child, but the child is not. May I say to you, this is something that is not, I think, very well understood today, and it would cause us to deal differently with our children.
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Is Israel still God’s chosen people? A listener in Newton, Iowa is confused about this issue. He says, if the Jews are God’s chosen people and his kingdom will be restored in Israel, which is hard for me to understand since the Jews do not accept Jesus as their savior, how can they be God’s chosen people when they don’t believe Christ is the Messiah?
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I have, by the way, several questions that the misunderstanding comes in because of the chronology or the history of the nation. Hosea said, you are lo ami, speaking to Israel. You are not my people. He said again, ami, you are my people. And when they turned from God and turned to idols, he brought judgment upon them. And the judgment, one of the greatest, was the judgment of the 70 years captivity in Babylon. And it was a harsh, rigorous ordeal that these people went through in that period. And during that period, you could say, well, how can you call them God’s people? They are God’s people, but they’re being judged. Well, 1900 years ago, when the Lord Jesus Christ came to this earth, He started out saying, repent, the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Who’s he talking to? Well, he’s talking to Israel. When he sent his disciples out, he says, don’t go to the Gentiles with this message. And what kingdom is he talking about? The kingdom prophesied in the Old Testament that shall be given to the nation Israel. Well, they rejected that. Not only rejected it, but rejected the king himself. He was there in person. and they delivered him up to be crucified. The Roman government was the only one that could have executed him and they executed him and put the Lord Jesus to death. Through that, why, there has come blessing to us through the death of Christ. He died for our sins because he wouldn’t have died on that cross if it hadn’t been for the fact that you are a sinner and I’m a sinner. And so God set them aside. They’re in a place of rejection. They’re lo ami, not his people. They have to come just like you and I do, as a sinner to Christ. I know many very fine, wonderful Hebrew Christians. They didn’t come that way because that they are the chosen people. They came that way because they were sinners and accepted Christ as their Savior, just like you did, just like I did. Well, now there’s coming a day when the church will be taken out of the world. What is God going to do? Well, do exactly what he did after the 70 years captivity, return his people back to the land and give them a marvelous opportunity of witnessing to the world. Only this time when they witness to the world, I think they’re going to do a better job. Now that’s in the future and you need to see the sequence of events in Scripture. And that’s the reason I insist the entire Bible should be taught. And anything short of that is not Bible teaching or Bible study, because there is God’s program in the 66 books of the Bible. And there is great confusion today in the church simply because these distinctions that are made in the books of the Bible as you go through are not made today. And it’s very confusing. I have never seen as much so-called Bible teaching as there is at the present. And I have never seen so much confusion and ignorance as there is at the present. And the reason is they’re not studying the Bible. There is a chronology there, a sequence of events. Now, when you see that picture that they’ve been set aside, they’re still God’s chosen people. Now, when God completes His purpose in the church, He’ll take the church out of the world and He’ll turn to the nation Israel again. And according to the prophetic scriptures, there are going to be witnesses to the world at that time. And they are going through a great time of trial and struggle, a lack of which they’ve never gone through before. But at the end of that, the Lord Jesus will come to the earth to establish his kingdom. And the capital of it’s going to be in Jerusalem. And Jerusalem is not Washington. Thank God it’s not Los Angeles. And it’s not London, but it’s Jerusalem. And those things, I think, are very easy to see if you will study the Bible. This piecemeal study today and piecemeal preaching has brought about great confusion. And I trust that we somehow or another sorted it out for you just a little.
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Are you studying the whole Bible? Do you read, study, and understand all 66 books? And more importantly, how they fit into God’s plan? If not, then we have two opportunities for you to get started right now. The first we’ve already mentioned, that’s Dr. McGee’s edited messages, which are available in both a hardback or paperback format. Now, for those of you who prefer to listen to Dr. McGee, we have the complete five-year program of Through the Bible in both regular audio CD albums and in the MP3 format in a single album. The second opportunity available to you for studying the Word of God is to join us on the Through the Bible radio program heard Monday through Friday on this station. Now, Dr. McGee’s journeys through the whole Word of God in five short years, teaching through every book of the Bible and touching on every chapter in each book is something you won’t want to miss. If you’re interested in following along with us on the Through the Bible program, then you’ll want to be added to our mailing list for notes and outlines in our monthly newsletter. For ordering information on any of these items that we’ve mentioned or to be added to our mailing list for notes and outlines, call our ordering line at 1-800-652-4253. We have staff standing by to take your calls Monday through Thursday from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. Pacific time. Now, for immediate ordering or to get more information about this ministry and our work, and it does continue to go on in over 105 languages and dialects around the world, visit our website at ttb.org. And of course, you can always write when you send your letter to Questions and Answers. For those in the U.S., Box 7100, Pasadena, California, 91109. In Canada, Box 25325, London, Ontario, N6C 6B1. Now, before we go, we’d like to thank you for your continued support, both through your prayers and your financial giving. We’ve been greatly encouraged by your desire to join with us on this journey, working together to get the whole word to the whole world. We pray that you’ll remain faithful to the ongoing work of this ministry as we remain steadfast in our mission of teaching the truths of God’s word to a lost and dying world. Now, because his word is true, we’re confident that God will answer all your questions and solve all your problems.
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All to him I owe Sin had left the crimson stain He washed it white as snow
